Founders of Twitch.tv shut down original site ahead of rumored YouTube deal.

On Tuesday, Justin.tv, the video streaming service that created the popular gaming video site Twitch, announced its closure effective immediately.

Visitors to either the main Justin.tv site or any of its subchannels are now redirected to a goodbye message announcing that "the Justin.tv website, mobile apps, and APIs are no longer in service." Following that announcement is a Q&A about the closure, and the first question—"Why?"—dances around the answer. The FAQ indirectly blames the popularity of Twitch: "Unfortunately that means we need to shut down Justin.tv."

Such an answer only fuels recent rumors and reports that have all but confirmed that YouTube will soon acquire Twitch for $2 billion. Should that happen, today's news hints at Twitch's services remaining largely unchanged, as Justin.tv users are advised to transfer their account to Twitch by September 5, 2014. (Paid Justin.tv users have already had their accounts converted to similar services on Twitch.)

As of press time, Justin.tv's main blog had not been updated to reflect this news; its last post, dated May 29, was an announcement that its live-video archives would be deleted on June 15.

Justin.tv launched in 2007 to allow users to stream their own webcam, computer, and television feeds over the Web well before YouTube allowed its own users to do so. It reached a notorious level of popularity thanks to its users streaming live sports feeds across the world, but it eventually became so overwhelmed by game-streaming users that it created a subsite in 2011, Twitch.tv, so gamers could gather in one place.

48 Reader Comments

I don't understand this. Twitch doesn't do non-gaming content (besides the random Steve Aoki concert the other day), so they're just chucking out their Justin.tv users? Seems like it would've made a whole lot more sense to hold off on this until after the Youtube acquisition, when they could just instruct people to use Youtube streaming.

Well, that's shit. I follow some people who livestream their (non-gaming) podcast recording sessions over Justin.tv. They use the built-in chat to talk with viewers and incorporate ideas into the discussions and interviews. Youtube doesn't offer the chat feature.

What are the site's users supposed to do now that they're being thrown out into the cold with no prior notice? This doesn't reflect well on the company's leadership at all.

Well, that's shit. I follow some people who livestream their (non-gaming) podcast recording sessions over Justin.tv. They use the built-in chat to talk with viewers and incorporate ideas into the discussions and interviews. Youtube doesn't offer the chat feature.

I would guess they will go to either facebook or twitter for similar functionality.

That would be the dumbest "alternative" ever. It'd probably be better to stream on Youtube and set up an IRC chat instead.

So yes, googletube wants nothing to do with it and I don't blame them.

The next big question is how is the twitch buyout going to change the way twitch streamers play background music. My theory is that the Songza purchase is part of a broader rights licensing strategy that might be a way out of a lot of legal headaches. What people forget is that youtube has effectively killed MTV. People discover new music on youtube more than just about anywhere else now, so you can bet that's a bargaining chip google will play soon.

What people forget is that youtube has effectively killed MTV. People discover new music on youtube more than just about anywhere else now, so you can bet that's a bargaining chip google will play soon.

Youtube wasn't founded until well after MTV had given up on music "discovery" of any sort. MTV was already the worst place to go for music.

What people forget is that youtube has effectively killed MTV. People discover new music on youtube more than just about anywhere else now, so you can bet that's a bargaining chip google will play soon.

Youtube wasn't founded until well after MTV had given up on music "discovery" of any sort. MTV was already the worst place to go for music.

Man...I've had some good memories on JTV and spent a lot of my late highschool on there dabbling in casting before it became the huge lets play juggernaut it's today.

I remember being one of the first to get a Behringer Xenyx 802 sound mixer and having really crappy quality video with well timed effects that really messed with my 40 or so viewers who always chimed in when they were bored.

One time I accidentally got a Walmart employee fired because he sold me a copy of Silent Hill Shattered Memories 10 days before street date and I had up to 40k viewers and a DMCA notice from Konami in my Inbox 30 minutes after I started casting haha!

I would just assume that Twitch.tv will allow non-game streaming. To be honest there's plenty of it now, especially programmers doing livestreams.

I assume this is what will happen as they integrate. Twitch's infrastructure for streaming is far better than YouTube's, and frankly, Google should switch all livestreaming over to Twitch as soon as possible. I assume there will be some kind of name change or rebranding of some or all of Twitch/YouTube.

I don't understand this. Twitch doesn't do non-gaming content (besides the random Steve Aoki concert the other day), so they're just chucking out their Justin.tv users? Seems like it would've made a whole lot more sense to hold off on this until after the Youtube acquisition, when they could just instruct people to use Youtube streaming.

This may be an attempt at a pre-merger bath. Get rid of what the top thinks could be a liablility before anyone gets the idea to sue and have it carry over to the parent company's wallet.

Well, that's shit. I follow some people who livestream their (non-gaming) podcast recording sessions over Justin.tv. They use the built-in chat to talk with viewers and incorporate ideas into the discussions and interviews. Youtube doesn't offer the chat feature.

What are the site's users supposed to do now that they're being thrown out into the cold with no prior notice? This doesn't reflect well on the company's leadership at all.

Livestream.com? Ustream.tv? There are other livecasting services. What sucks is that this came without any warning, all the services just broke, and there's no way to access or migrate your existing content away. From looking over the FAQ there probably won't be any future Youtube integration (barring any future Youtube/Twitch merger). Must have been quite an unpleasant surprise for anybody who was going to stream today.

Yes, YouTube does have the chat feature. And you can choose to do a quick setup stream, which is basically Hangouts On Air, open to the public (people not invited to video chat still have a chat room/IRC like ability to chat with people on camera). Or you can set up a "custom stream" which will allow for 3rd party streaming clients like Xsplit or Open Broadcaster. That also has the chat room/IRC like chat.

What people forget is that youtube has effectively killed MTV. People discover new music on youtube more than just about anywhere else now, so you can bet that's a bargaining chip google will play soon.

I think it's more accurate to say MTV killed MTV. They were barely recognizable as a place to actually hear music long before YouTube came along.

I assume this is what will happen as they integrate. Twitch's infrastructure for streaming is far better than YouTube's, and frankly, Google should switch all livestreaming over to Twitch as soon as possible. I assume there will be some kind of name change or rebranding of some or all of Twitch/YouTube.

As long as they don't stick with the current way Twitch handles archives/past broadcasts. With Twitch's live streaming infrastructure and YouTube's storage and playback infrastructure, there shouldn't be any issue with keeping recordings indefinitely.

Well, that's shit. I follow some people who livestream their (non-gaming) podcast recording sessions over Justin.tv. They use the built-in chat to talk with viewers and incorporate ideas into the discussions and interviews. Youtube doesn't offer the chat feature.

What are the site's users supposed to do now that they're being thrown out into the cold with no prior notice? This doesn't reflect well on the company's leadership at all.